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BWW Reviews: SF Opera's SECRET GARDEN Could Use Some More Work
San Francisco Opera's new commission, a modern opera take on the classic children's story, "The Secret Garden," has trouble fully blooming. Littered with beautiful lilies and roses of moments, the opera waits until its second act to really let its music breathe....
BWW Reviews: All Hail the Conquering RADAMISTO by the English Concert at Carnegie Hall
The English Concert's spectacular performance of RADAMISTO had me from its first notes and swept me away to its unlikely but happy ending. Three-and-a-half hours never moved faster than it did at Carnegie Hall on Sunday.
It's easy to think of Carnegie as simply the premiere venue for symphony orc...
BWW Reviews: TURN OF THE SCREW as Told Through a Horror Movie Lens
New York City Opera's production of Britten's chamber opera 'The Turn of the Screw' opened Sunday afternoon to a full house at Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House as the Prologue, played by Dominic Armstrong, fills us in on the back story as it is played out onstage. The stark sett...
BWW Reviews: Redemption for the Metropolitan Opera's New PARSIFAL Is in the Music
There used to be an ad campaign from a New York bakery company, “You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's rye bread.” Well, a similar statement could be made about Richard Wagner's final opera (or as he called it, a büenenweihfestspiel , or “a festival play for the consecration of the stage...
BWW Reviews: City Opera's Production of POWDER HER FACE by Thomas Ades Is Raining Men and a Dirty Duchess
She is a beast to an exceptional degree.
She is a Don Juan among women.
She is insatiable, unnatural and altogether fairly appalling.
(Hotel Manager as Judge
POWDER HER FACE, Act II, Scene 6: 1955)...
BWW Reviews: MADAMA BUTTERFLY Hits Many of the Right Notes at the McCallum
I had the pleasure of attending the Teatro Lirico D'Europa MADAMA BUTTERFLY last evening at The McCallum Theatre and was once again swept away in Puccini's exquisite score and timeless love story. The vocalists were stellar; every one - everything else in the production was a little sub-par. Even th...
BWW Reviews: Austin Lyric Opera's MARRIAGE OF FIGARO is a Crowd-Pleasing Farce
Austin Lyric Opera's current production of The Marriage of Figaro clearly illustrates the brilliance and artistry of Mozart's music while poking fun at the hypocrisies of the upper class....
BWW Reviews: Metropolitan Opera's Vegas-Set RIGOLETTO Finishes 'In the Money'
Full disclosure: I'm not fond of updating operas. Most of them simply don't work, because the directors appear to have a disdain for the art form or, at least, for the particular opera they're staging. They assume that trashing 'Un Ballo in Maschera,' 'Don Giovanni' or 'La Sonnambula' is the only wa...
BWW Reviews: HGO's DON GIOVANNI's Plot Drags Despite Tremendous Talents
Running opposite the bright and colorful SHOWBOAT in Houston Grand Opera's winter repertoire is an austere and dark production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte's DON GIOVANNI. This atmospheric and melodramatic opera presents the audience with the lecherous Don Giovanni, who has hired ...
BWW Reviews: Metropolitan Opera's IL TROVATORE Is Alive and Well, Even Without the Marx Brothers
For the music alone, you can't beat Verdi's IL TROVATORE, with a demanding string of arias that, in the right hands (or voices), can raise the rafters. But when it comes to the action, you must suspend your disbelief at the door--or stay home and watch the Marx Brothers have fun with it in 'A Night ...
BWW Reviews: Kaufmann and Dasch Triumph in HD Broadcast of LOHENGRIN from La Scala, Despite Directorial Missteps
You have to love the Italians--particularly the Milanese. Where else but at La Scala, the city's temple of dramma lirica, could you find a public so passionate that it complained loudly and bitterly when it was announced that a work by a German (Richard Wagner) was opening the season rather than an ...
BWW Reviews: Houston Grand Opera's Entertaining SHOW BOAT Dazzles and Delights
Houston Grand Opera opened their Winter Repertory offerings with an impressive and rousing production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's iconic book musical SHOW BOAT. The musical historically changed the face of American Musical Theatre and introduced a genre of entertainment that many feel ...
BWW Reviews: Cheers for DiDonato, Van den Heever and the Metropolitan Opera's MARIA STUARDA
There's usually not much in the way of fireworks in New York between New Year's and July 4th, but there certainly is no shortage of pyrotechnics in the Met's new Maria Stuarda, which is having its long-overdue premiere in the house. It brings us two sensational performances: American mezzo Joyce DiD...
BWW Reviews: I WANT MAGIC
I missed the debut and broadcast of Andre Previn's operatic setting of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" from the San Francisco Opera back in 1998. But I can't say that anything I've read would compel me choose it over a couple of hours with Brando and Leigh on TCM or even a less than s...
BWW Reviews: Alagna Topples Opera Orchestra of New York's ANDREA CHENIER
With all the attention being paid to the French Revolution these days, thanks to the film of "Les Miserables," it probably seemed like a good idea for Opera Orchestra of New York to mount ANDREA CHENIER, Giordano's opera about a poet during the downfall of the monarchy in 18th century France. Unfort...
BWW Reviews: LA BOHEME at Amora Opera: Small Company, Huge Voices
The vocal prowess of the Amore Opera singers is superb with rich nuance and controlled power behind the voices. Jonathan Winell plays the commanding role of Rodolfo with a generously sized voice to produce clarion top notes. Na Li Youm also performs with great range as Mimi. Showing dexterity in ...
BWW Reviews: BARBER OF SEVILLE Brings All Ages to the Met
What a delight to go to the opera house among so many children, each bustling with excitement for what I can only imagine was the first time for many. The Metropolitan Opera's new and abridged version of Rossini's comic opera The Barber of Seville - sung in the English-language is guaranteed fun fo...
BWW Reviews: AIDA, the Larger-Than-Life Verdi Opera, Comes to the Met for Another Season
Aida has been among the most popular operas in the Met's repertory since the "German Seasons" in the 1880s and this season's production follows suit. This Sonja Frisell 1988 production of a classic Verdi opera left the audience feeling a wide range of emotions from beginning to end. From the vast ...
BWW Reviews: Austin Lyric Opera Presents a Perfect PAGLIACCI
Whether you are an opera connoisseur or an opera virgin, Austin Lyric Opera's production of PAGLIACCI is a must see. The music is beautiful. The visuals are mesmerizing and stunning, and the cast is second to none. It's hard to come by an evening that is more enjoyable than this....
BWW Reviews: HGO's THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS Sparkles with Rib-Tickling Whimsy
Houston Grand Opera is performing Gioachino Rossini's splendid, humorous, and simply delightful L'italiana in Algeri or THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS for the first time. Even knowing that comedic operas exist, it is still seems somewhat like a contradiction to this opera novice. With that said, being ...
BWW Reviews: HGO's Splendid, Opulent LA BOHÈME is an Immaculate Production
Houston Grand Opera is opening its 2012-2013 season with a lavish and fresh production of one of the world's favorite operas, LA BOHÈME by Giacomo Puccini. The familiar opera tells the story of four bohemian artists that live in the same garret (apartment) in 1830s Paris. The poet, Rodolfo, falls f...
BWW Reviews: MOBY DICK a New Classic With Reimagined Opera
Storytelling at its best, San Francisco Opera's co-production of new opera "Moby Dick" overwhelms upon sight and hearing. The magnificent production has some of the most exquisite music ever written for the stage. Jack Heggie's grand cinematic score moves faultlessly from solemn, contemplative momen...
BWW Reviews: San Francisco Opera's New CAPULETS AND THE MONTAGUES is Breathtaking
Vincenzo Bellini's opera based on "Romeo and Juliet" does not follow the traditional Shakespeare plot, so it seems appropriate that the San Francisco Opera production, too, should veer away from traditional sets and costumes and create a world of its own....
BWW Reviews: San Jose Finds a Rare Pearl in Bizet's THE PEARL FISHERS
Google the "Pearl Fishers Duet" and you'll find almost every famous opera singer has sung the exquisitely beautiful song. It's the type of song that makes it to Hollywood, but that you recognize when you hear it. But many don't recognize the story behind it, one that plays out in a three-act opera t...
BWW Reviews: Union Avenue Opera's Charmingly 'Reduced' DAS RHEINGOLD
I've seen the Union Avenue Opera's current production described as "Wagner-lite", and to a degree, that's true. But, any Wagner has the ability to be stirring and surprisingly cinematic in execution, and this presentation is no exception. Besides I prefer the description of DAS RHEINGOLD by Jonathon...
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